WilderUtopia.com - Coexisting into the Great Unknown

The Underworld, Rebirth and Renewal with Ceres and Proserpina

In ancient Roman religion, Ceres was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. The following myth tells how her daughter Proserpina was abducted by the ruler of the underworld, forced to become his wife, but with Ceres’ help, she watches over the springtime growth of crops and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth or renewal.

Idrissa Ouédraogo, whose simple, carefully observed movies about cultural change in Burkina Faso and elsewhere in Africa, brought him international acclaim and a top award at the Cannes International Film Festival, recently died. We share his first film, Yam Daabo (The Choice) about a family facing famine in the Sahel.

Cinematic Cultural Change in West Africa with Idrissa Ouédraogo

Idrissa Ouédraogo, whose simple, carefully observed movies about cultural change in Burkina Faso and elsewhere in Africa, brought him international acclaim and a top award at the Cannes International Film Festival, recently died. We share his first film, Yam Daabo (The Choice) about a family facing famine in the Sahel.

His alter-ego Zuckerman, unconsciously frightened of success and of failure, frightened of being admired and also despised, frightened of being frightened, he unconsciously suppressed his talent, frightened of what it might do next. On the passing of Philip Roth, we look into his often black comic chronicles of an imagined life, his taking down and reshaping the meaning of 'Jewish American', and his play at historic re-creating the zeitgeist within the form of the novel.

Mild Satire, Outrage and Hostility, with Philip Roth

His alter-ego Zuckerman, unconsciously frightened of success and of failure, frightened of being admired and also despised, frightened of being frightened, he unconsciously suppressed his talent, frightened of what it might do next. On the passing of Philip Roth, we look into his often black comic chronicles of an imagined life, his taking down and reshaping the meaning of ‘Jewish American’, and his play at historic re-creating the zeitgeist within the form of the novel.

Gene Krupa (1909 – 1973) pioneered orchestral jazz and Big Band from the flamboyant drum side, pounding tom-toms, high hats, and cymbals through the 30s, 40s, and 50s, as one of the most remarkable percussionists out there.

Big Noise from Big Band Drummer Gene Krupa

youtu.be/r8gvJnhTY2s

Gene Krupa (1909 – 1973) pioneered orchestral jazz and Big Band from the flamboyant drum side, pounding tom-toms, high hats, and cymbals through the 30s, 40s, and 50s, as one of the most remarkable percussionists out there.

Loose Nuts: Edison Reveals Huge Gap in Safety at San Onofre

youtu.be/Mv2WCILhizE

Toonman Collamer opines: Work crews transferring radioactive spent fuel (nuclear waste) at the San Onofre nuclear plant from cooling pools into dry storage discovered a loose bolt inside one of the canisters, prompting Southern California Edison to temporarily halt the relocation effort. — Los Angeles Times

On the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre in the Vietnam War, we honor the efforts of Army helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson to stop the madness and endure the quest for truth, and share the Vietnamese-made documentary, 'The Sound of the Violin in My Lai'.

0March 17, 2018

The US Shame of My Lai in Vietnam

youtu.be/SKq62meVA3k

On the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre in the Vietnam War, we honor the efforts of Army helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson to stop the madness and endure the quest for truth, and share the Vietnamese-made documentary, ‘The Sound of the Violin in My Lai’.

One of Africa's most rare-minerals-rich countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo, has endured Belgian colonization, slavery, and continuing atrocities, where militant groups control the extraction of "conflict resources." The tech industry turns these extracted raw materials into components of mobile phones and computers. Yet the cost is deadly.

0March 3, 2018

The Lucrative and Violent Curse of Coltan Mining in Congo

youtu.be/dTwzCy0-RTw

One of Africa’s most rare-minerals-rich countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo, has endured Belgian colonization, slavery, and continuing atrocities, where militant groups control the extraction of “conflict resources.” The tech industry turns these extracted raw materials into components of mobile phones and computers. Yet the cost is deadly.

Iannis Xenakis, the Greek-French experimental composer and protege designer for the famous architect Le Corbusier, advanced theories of the vertical "Cosmic" city as the only sustainable way forward. Here, he wrote this essay in 1966, decrying decentralization (read: suburban sprawl) in favor of building up, up, up...5 million inhabitants to be housed in a single megastructure, a hyperbolic paraboloid of more than 3,000 meters high and 50 meters wide.

0February 21, 2018

Iannis Xenakis and the Notion of a Cosmic Utopia

youtu.be/yztoaNakKok

Iannis Xenakis, the Greek-French experimental composer and protege designer for the famous architect Le Corbusier, advanced theories of the vertical “Cosmic” city as the only sustainable way forward. Here, he wrote this essay in 1966, decrying decentralization (read: suburban sprawl) in favor of building up, up, up…5 million inhabitants to be housed in a single megastructure, a hyperbolic paraboloid of more than 3,000 meters high and 50 meters wide.

Clive Hamilton writes on how governments, people, corporations, the world continues to plan for the future as if climate scientists don’t exist. The greatest shame is the absence of a sense of tragedy.

2February 17, 2018

Anthropocene Arrives, Climate Collapses, and No One Cares

Clive Hamilton writes on how governments, people, corporations, the world continues to plan for the future as if climate scientists don’t exist. The greatest shame is the absence of a sense of tragedy.

Today's attempts to malign Haiti stand as only the latest in a long line of hegemony and oppression against this Caribbean island nation. January 1, 1804 is Haitian Independence Day, and Haitian attorney Ezili Dantò honors and remembers Janjak Desalin (Jean Jacques Dessalines), Haiti's Liberator and founding father, as well as the indigenous army, and women who influenced him. Janjak's ideals and legacy lives on - Nou la!

0January 24, 2018

Jean Jacques Dessalines and the Women Warriors who Liberated Haiti

youtu.be/fPDq0pZZy_c

Today’s attempts to malign Haiti stand as only the latest in a long line of hegemony and oppression against this Caribbean island nation. January 1, 1804 is Haitian Independence Day, and Haitian attorney Ezili Dantò honors and remembers Janjak Desalin (Jean Jacques Dessalines), Haiti’s Liberator and founding father, as well as the indigenous army, and women who influenced him. Janjak’s ideals and legacy lives on – Nou la!

Editors' Picks

Tribute to SomaFM’s Darkwave channel ‘doomed’
Posted on January 22, 2018 | 2 Comments
Somafm.com has streamed an inventive radio channel pioneered by Rusty Hodge featuring, as they called it "Dark industrial/ambient music for tortured souls." The service was recently discontinued until October Halloween season, which to the Gothic-Ambient-Industrial music crowd signifies the end of an era. Following is a sample of sounds from the dark side.
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Christmas Trees, Solstice Rituals, and the Garden of Eden
Posted on January 8, 2018 | No Comments
An anthropological and archaeological study of the origins of the Christmas Tree customs that grew out of the older European pagan Winter Solstice rituals by the Old European Culture Blog.
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The Christmas Cat, in Shadowplay
Posted on December 25, 2017 | No Comments
"Everyone knows the Christmas Cat, he's angry, huge, and mean," begins the story of inequality and injustice for the poor, with the feline ogre who punishes those who fail to perform for their overlords. Retold in a shadow puppet play from the Icelandic story of Jólakötturinn, by Layla Holzer and Spike Dennis.
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